


Yunho's Clemency

by Susimau



Series: Overshadow [12]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: A lil shy bean!San, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Blood and Gore, Captain!Hongjoong, Character Death, Cook!Yunho, First Mate!Mingi, Gen, He angy!Yeosang, He was there!Jongho, Mutiny, No Smut, Stop it with the feints!Wooyoung, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:35:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28149210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Susimau/pseuds/Susimau
Summary: Yunho is part of another captain's ship when he decides to attack the Pirate King. Needless to say, things turn sour.
Series: Overshadow [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617121
Comments: 13
Kudos: 44





	Yunho's Clemency

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand the last one! So after this I will start with my new Jongsang Steampunk AU and since I have holidays now, I will give you the Tikki one shot within a few days ^^ I hope you enjoyed this series of backstories lots!
> 
> TW: Blood and Gore, Betrayal

"Yunho! Ye ain't done with cookin' yet?! Them mateys hunger!"

Yunho exasperatedly threw his hair back to have it out of the way to look at the caller. One of his crew members stood outside of the chicken coop that Yunho was kneeling in. He had crossed his arms, and a raised a brow dissatisfiedly. It was the bosun's footboy, an annoying lad that made too much of a deal out of his position when he was not that important at all.

"Why be ye askin' me, the chief be in the galley an' still at work." Yunho rolled his eyes at the boy's antics. That kid had been aboard the ship not even for two months, and their bosun fancied bedding him, but that was all the worth he had. As such, he was not careful enough with the orders he threw around.

"Ye be the one grabbin' cackle fruit down 'ere instead o' doin' yer work! Cap told me to relay a black spot if ye ain't finishin' soon!" The kid stuck out his tongue at Yunho in a childish manner. Usually, he would play along and make sure that both of them walked out of the storage hold with a good mood, but Yunho was already tense. He had been trying to catch one of the chickens for a good deal of ten minutes now, and the stench of the livestock down in the watery ship belly made his eyes tear.

He had little patience for criticism, especially from an arrogant kid.

"Yer 'ungry, ain't ye?" Yunho shook some sticky hair from his forehead. The sun was transforming the ship into a mobile oven, and Yunho was drenched from running around all day. He wanted to bind his locks together, but since his hands were dirty from hunting the chickens and he had taken a bath just four days ago he did not want to mess them up.

The lad nodded with his eyes wide.

"Then why do ye nay take o'er 'ere? Once ye caught the bright one ye can just bring it to the galley. Then we be done sooner."

At the sly proposition, the boy first narrowed his eyes. As if he had to check whether he was being hornswoggled at the moment, he took his time to look Yunho up and down warily.

Yunho waited impatiently while drops of sweat crept down his back and tickled him in the process.

"Savvy. But 'urry since the cap be 'ungry, too."

With a quick nod, Yunho sprung out of the cramped coop. His long legs protested at the sudden stretch after sitting crouched for so long, but he audibly let go of a breath. He left the far smaller kid to run around like an addlepate while the chickens squawked indignantly at him. On his way back to the kitchen, he wiped his hands with a rag and fixed his hair. The suffering under the heat would not cease anytime soon, but at least Yunho could go back to the galley that was less stuffy.

He greeted his mates left and right as he quickly returned to his post. No need to get called out another time for crimes he did not commit. Sometimes, the tension and useless dilemmas that came with the pirate life tended to drive Yunho to the brink of his endurance.

Back in the galley where his own reign was, he was more at ease. Being part of a large ship with over forty crew mates meant work at any times of the day, and even if Yunho did not exactly consider his fellow cooks as friends, they at least understood. Pirates ate a lot and working with provisions out at sea while illnesses like scurvy were man's greatest fear was a worry they all shared. Within the safety of the galley, no one dared to go around with their nose in the air.

Yunho swiftly informed them that the chicken would arrive in a second and they would prepare the rest first. With practised hurry, they all went to work to avoid getting blown down by their captain just because he did not eat in too long.

On most days, the kitchens were an utter mess of running pirates. The heavy smell of food and some animal loudly dying in a corner as they were preparing it to get eaten clogged everybody’s senses. Today was not an exception. Yunho was back with the fish he had been gutting earlier within seconds and hacked it apart with the grace of one that had grown up with cooking utensils in his fists.

Yunho had never known a world outside of pirate ships. When Yunho had still been a young boy, his father had been the galley chef of a pirate ship. At Yunho's sixth birthday, his father had collected him from the land to put him to use as a cabin boy in the kitchens. Yunho grew up with a cleaver in one and a fish in his other hand. By now, he was a greatly estimated part of the daily food supply of his ship. His father had died a while ago from a lung infection, and Yunho had spent years growing closer to the makeshift family that the crew formed.

Back in the day, he had dreamt of leaving the ship and becoming a cook at a restaurant that was stationed somewhere on land. However, for now, he had given up on that idea. He owed his captain loyalty for taking him in when he had nowhere to go, and he had fun as a pirate. The far future was still open to any possibilities.

Yunho threw the fish halves he finished over into a bucket to deal with them later. The guts covering the front of his apron had long since stopped to scare him. The child version of him had tended to get queasy at the sight, but as a grown man, he could not care less. He had seen worse than the insides of some maritime animal.

"What be this swayin'?! Yah, lad, once ye put down that chicken go check what be endangerin' our fingers 'ere!"

At the exasperated call somewhere behind him, Yunho swerved in to take the chicken from the cabin boy. Its neck had already been broken orderly, so Yunho did not wait to take it apart and roughly rip the feathers out. While he was busy with his own bloody pile, he held his balance well on the waves that seemed too large for a calm sunny day. Rather, it felt as if they were sailing quickly through the oceans as if the captain had ordered to pick up speed on purpose.

By the time Yunho dunked the chicken meat in their mixture of many spices to add some taste to it, the cabin boy was back already. Heaving, he just yelled into the room.

"We be scuttlin' a ship soon, all avast an' prepare!"

With a curse slipping from his lips, Yunho hurriedly wiped his hands on his apron and tossed the item on a counter before he followed behind the boy. Their posts stayed behind empty as the whole bunch of people that worked around the food filtered out onto the deck.

Yunho saw the ship in the distance. It was a sleek schooner that would be able to outrun them easily if it so chose to. It was also a comparably small ship with no blackjack that was known to Yunho.

Confused, he directed his inquisitions at a nearby crew member.

"Why be we 'untin' that ship? It ain't lookin' like much o' a reward."

The other pirate just shrugged as he fastened his weapon belt around his hips tight. Yunho took the example and grabbed a cutlass from a barrel to add to the gun and daggers he was always wearing (if hidden by the apron.)

"Cap said it be the Pirate King. Thinks this be a jolly opportunity." The man checked the dryness of his gunpowder and then satisfiedly rammed the weapon inside his belt. It stayed there, wedged between his body and the leather while Yunho's mind still struggled to catch up with the news.

"The Pirate King? Kim Hongjoong? Blimey!"

His mate chuckled as he watched their helmsman swerve to catch up with the other ship.

"Aye. I be curious about what 'e 'as to offer."

They parted when the call to ready the gunner's daughters sounded. The powder monkeys immediately pushed to do their task while the crew reconciled on deck with their weapons at the ready.

Yunho had to admit to his curiosity. The stories about the Pirate King had reached them a while ago in the form of rumours about a downright terrifying gentleman o' fortune. Apparently, he had burned whole cities to ashes and defied the navy as well as bounty hunters successfully for years. His crew was said to be a blood-thirsty bunch of demons that slaughtered anything in their way.

The prospect of meeting a person as steeped in legends as this pirate had Yunho giddy with excitement. As a fellow pirate, he would much rather prefer an alliance over a battle to hopefully befriend the king himself, but he was not the captain here. He could not help but wonder what fate would be bestowed on their crew for making such a foolish attempt.

The schooner that gradually drew closer played the part, though. It looked as inconspicuous as it would get, and if not for the white skull that was circled by a whip contrasting with the black flag, the ship could have passed for a regular trading vessel easily.

Yunho was astounded.

"Prepare fer boardin'! Kill 'em all without abandon but bring me the king!" Their captain's powerful voice boomed over the ship shortly before the first cannons started raining their deadly load on the enemy ship. Yunho could barely see anything as he reached for a rope that hung from their mast, and prepared to swing over.

The smoke from the cannons blinded their sight as on the pirate king's ship orders got thrown around also. It was a hot day to be fighting, but Yunho hoped that the sun would have mercy on them and settle soon.

The ship beneath Yunho's feet vibrated from the force of the heavy cannons and the shots that hit it in return. He knew that the schooner would be able to dodge a lot of their attacks with its slender build, but Yunho hoped that at least some missiles would find their goal.

By the time the ships had aligned enough for him to swing over, it did not matter anymore. He left the shooting to the people who were responsible for that and threw himself in the battle. Naturally, he came to fight to the death, so he pushed forward without mercy when his sword clanked against the first defender.

Both ships sunk into chaos. There was no way to keep an eye on who was in the lead from how deafening the clatter of swords and banging of gunshots rang in the air. Yunho barely took notice of anything but his own survival as he fought tooth and nail.

After fending off some bright-haired kid that had used odd feints on him, Yunho immediately dipped down into the ship's belly. He had not seen the Pirate King so far, but if he spread some fires, the mole would be forced to flee from its hiding spot.

However, as Yunho arrived down at the storage area, he found himself faced with a peculiar sight.

One of his mates had already come up with the preventive attack and was battling a member of the enemy crew to gain free access to the flammable goods.

Yet, it looked as if the person that was supposed to be defending the storage hold was not even fighting back. He was just dodging and scrambling from the hits, but Yunho could not even spot a weapon on him.

Confused, the cook remained in the corridor to observe the odd spectacle. The tall red-haired man that belonged to Kim's crew looked like a warrior; he was an impressive man. But all the damage he made was to increasingly frustrate the angered pirate that tried to slash him open.

Yunho questioningly tilted his head.

A pirate who did not fight? He had never heard of that before.

But while he watched the man and his facial expressions, he did not find fear. The man was not afraid of death; he was afraid to hurt his opponent. He hesitated even to throw a barrel in the pirate's way, and when he did, and the man hit his foot on it, the redhair looked nearly apologetic.

Nervous, Yunho clenched and unclenched his fingers around his cutlass. He was supposed to fight, to bring their captain to his chef. But the idea to run over and help his mate slay a man that was so unwilling to defend his own life sounded like a cheap trick to him. It was like killing a child with big eyes that had no understanding of death. Dishonourable and weak.

The longer he watched, the more his respect for his own mate sank. They would have no issue if they just left the redhair here or locked him up in the bilge. He would do no damage anyway. But Yunho's mate tried to kill him so adamantly that Yunho started wondering where his moral compass had gone.

The redhair unexpectedly stumbled and lost his balance.

Yunho flinched forward, scared for a moment. The ridicule at his own stupidity to care and the urge to protect arrived at him at the same time.

Yunho's eyes flickered between his brutal mate and the man on the ground that had lifted one hand in defence and closed his eyes protectively.

Then, he acted.

His sword smoothly penetrated the back of his friend and stabbed clean through his unprotected chest. A gurgled noise left his throat as he stumbled and crashed in a wooden crate to their left. He was instantly dead, and an odd silence wrapped around the two remaining pirates.

Yunho stared down at the redhair owlishly.

He had no idea what he had just done and what consequences it would bring. Mutiny was considered the most heinous of crimes to commit at sea, and it was punished with marooning or straight-up death. Yunho should make sure that his mistake never reached the ears of his captain.

Instead of pretending it had been the redhead's fault and mixing with the rest of the pirates on deck, however, Yunho found himself rooted on the spot.

He and the enemy were just staring at each other. Neither moved for what felt like an eternity.

"T-Thank you for saving me!" The man then hurried to stutter out. His voice was deep and husky, adding even more to his unbelievably dangerous effect. Yet, the gratitude in his shocked eyes was pure.

Yunho was so fucking confused.

"Why did ye nay try to save yer own life? I ain't responsible fer that." He reached out his hand comradely to pull the man up to his feet. No one but them had found here, and the thumping of feet that made the planks shake above them was still deafening.

"Ah, I ain't a fighter. Hence I appreciate yer mercy."

Yunho was puzzled once more. A pirate that appreciated pity? Yunho could name dozens of this prideful folk that would rather die than take their enemy's hand like the redhair just did. His hand was warm and weirdly pleasant to hold.

With a swift jerk, Yunho pulled him to his feet. The man nodded thankfully and dusted his pants off.

"'tis ain't the best location fer that, don't ye think?"

Yunho wiped his sword on his pants. By now, he really should leave, but he found himself too occupied with marvelling at this tall fool to do that.

"I know, aye. Pirates be livin' a dangerous life."

Befuddled, Yunho slowly nodded. It must have been a trick. No way was this man not hornswoggling him.

"I... I will leave then." Yunho had forgotten what he had come for. He figured that if the king's crew lost their battle, then at least the odd stranger could hide away here for as long as possible. If they won, then it was their business to decide whether he was a foolish coward or deserved to live.

Just when Yunho turned to leave, hectic steps got loud on the stairs. Another one of his mates hurried down to the storage hold and sprinted right at the two. Yunho guessed that he had come to light up some things.

His face showed a range of expressions as he neared. At first, he looked glad to see Yunho here. Then, he blanched at the sight of the enemy behind him.

"Yunho, watch out!"

With his weapon ready to strike, the man came at them. And Yunho did not think again. He rose his sword to slash it across the unsuspecting mate's chest. Another body dropped to the floor. His blood mixed with the first victim's.

Yunho inwardly cursed himself. His pulse pumped through his ears loudly.

"Soo... Yunho, eh?"

Yunho whipped around to the redhair, his face slipping. He pushed his free hand through his messy and sweaty locks, beyond stressed.

"I killed another one o' me mates fer ye! Why!"

The other man looked lost as they stared at each other. Yunho gave him credit for being at his height.

"Uh- Dead men tell no tales?" A shrug.

Disbelieving, Yunho stared at the bodies on the ground. There was no saving them anymore, and betrayal was written in their glassy eyes.

Then, he fled. He was too overwhelmed with the weight of his decision that he needed distance from the weird fellow down in the ship's belly.

Yunho emerged to smoke-poisoned air, and the stench of fire and death filled his nose. For a second, he had to blink and cough; then he looked around to regain his bearings.

Death and destruction, as far as the eye could reach. Their ship was ablaze and adding to the unbearable heat that had sweat burning in the minor wounds Yunho had sustained earlier. Dead bodies littered the floor, and none of them was a stranger.

Yunho swallowed hard. He rose his eyes to look at the few pirates who were busy throwing every single one of them in the ocean. There they went, friends, family, long companions.

Yunho was about to react when the tip of a sword warningly tapped his shoulder. At the commando, he turned perplexedly but also agreeable to the fact that they had not stabbed him in the back instead.

The wild man he faced looked like a demon. Blood stuck to his long hair and tanned skin as if he had bathed in it. His clothing was ripped in some places, and small injuries dotted his form. Yunho believed to spot some intestine clinging to his high heeled boots.

The man gave Yunho a questioning look, as if unsure where he had appeared from. His gaze travelled from his face down to the blood-stained sword, and then to the hatch in the ground.

Yunho could see his eyes flash as he drew his conclusions. Flinching at the sharp crack of a whip that sounded in the air, he stumbled back and instinctually drew his unarmed hand up to protect himself.

Before the vicious leather could meet his skin, a loud call made the pirate freeze in his movement.

With deliberate caution, Yunho released the fiery eyes of the pirate from his gaze to turn it over his shoulder. The red-haired man from earlier had appeared behind Yunho, and his face had morphed into a frown akin to thunder clouds as he stared at his mate.

"No, captain! This man saved me life!"

Nervously Yunho glanced at the tip of the whip that slithered across the ground when the captain circled his wrist. No doubt, the devilish fellow in front of Yunho could be no one else but the notorious pirate king. He looked less like a king than Yunho had expected. He was not wearing a big hat or an impressive coat. The man in front of him was slender and of a rather short build, especially compared to the tall cook. He wore a simple beige shirt, black pants, and just as black boots that wrapped around his calves.

He blended with the other pirates so well that Yunho would have mistaken him with a cabin boy if not for the power he exuded. Dominance dripped from him like sticky sap, and his eyes were dark enough that Yunho felt the need to advert his face to dodge their sinister depths.

"'e damn looks like an enemy, though." The captain narrowed his eyes at Yunho when his crew member stepped up in front of him. He protectively shuffled his body between the danger and Yunho. Both of his hands had risen placatingly.

"'e ain't! 'e spied me strugglin' with one o' 'is mates downstairs an' killed 'im to save me."

Yunho winced at the choice of words. Branding Yunho as a person who stirred up mutiny in front of this captain seemed like an awful notion. As he followed the exchange with one ear, Yunho also kept throwing glances at his sinking ship. It did not seem as if there was anybody left alive, so he had nowhere to go now.

There was only the ocean or this ship. Yunho had to resolve this smartly.

The captain stared icily at Yunho. He waited for an answer. Yunho broke out in a cold sweat at the pressure. Not only was he keenly aware of the snide glances the crew on board of this ship gave him, but also of the mass of dead bodies that littered the floor. If he was not careful, he would become one of them in less than ten minutes.

"I- uh- I did nay feel right with killin' one that ain't fightin'."

The king cocked his brow at him. His face had yet to soften with curiosity. For now, he still looked brutally serious.

"So ye commit mutiny? Fer one who might as well 'ave been ‘idin' from his account?"

Yunho's shirt clung to his skin uncomfortably. The sun blared down on them with all its might, and the first seagulls had started swarming their ship to nip at the smelling corpses. Yunho fought down the hint of regret that bubbled in his chest. For now, he had to stand to the foolish decision he had made.

When Yunho continued hesitating since he had no articulate explanation either, the redhead stepped in again.

"Ain't that jolly? 'e has the same morals as ye do, an' 'e ain't afraid to show 'em." The pirate had relaxed his shoulders by now and was standing casually and without any tension as if the situation had already been resolved.

At least his calmness made the captain slowly drop his shoulders, too.

"Where was yer morals comin' from, lad? They sure be missin' out in loyalty." With a chuckle, the captain began rolling up his whip around his fingers. Yunho, let go of a breath. It seemed as if he was not dying yet.

"I must say as I spied me mate desperately tryin' to kill a man that 'ad no intention to fight, I felt wronged. Yer mate also be a pretty one, though, so I might 'ave been biased."

That had the captain bark a laugh. He hooked the whip back on his belt and wiped his bloodied hands on his shirt. Yunho desperately ignored whose blood that was.

"Savvy. An eye fer an eye, then. I shall spare yer life since ye spared the life o' one o' mine." With a last nod, the captain stepped away to distribute orders to his busy crew. Yunho remained where he stood while his heart still tried to slow its erratic beating.

Yunho had survived an encounter with the pirate king. As the sole person out of four dozen.

When the redhead turned to face him with a sunny smile, Yunho nearly flinched back. He must have saved a precious person to the captain if he went so easy on him.

"Thank ye once more! I be Mingi, an' I welcome ye on the _Precious_!"

Yunho nodded delayed. He still caught up with the onslaught of change in his life. Just earlier, he had been in the kitchens and sliced a tuna. Now, his ship had sunken, and he found himself trapped with a bunch of other scallywags that served the king of the seas.

"Thanks, fer explainin', but..." Helpless, Yunho looked around in his foreign surroundings. He did not belong here.

"Ah, ye ain't have to worry. Ye can't go aft to yer mates, but we can drop ye off on land safely. Yer life can move on."

Mingi definitely had not been a pirate for long. A born pirate reacted differently to a man losing his crew. Yet again, Yunho found himself intrigued. Mingi seemed to be a man full of interesting stories that varied greatly from Yunho's life. In the time he would spend on board of this ship waiting until they found land so that he could leave, Yunho might listen to them.

-

Yunho tentatively rapped his fingers against the door to Hongjoong's quarters. The captain had called for him after another week they had spent out at sea. In that time, Yunho had done lots of thinking and weighing his options from now on. It was the perfect opportunity to go on land to pursue his dreams as a cook.

"Enter."

Yunho pushed the door open at the swift call and allowed himself in the man's quarters. Hongjoong sat at his table and had kicked up his long legs to rest on some important-looking maps. His lounging was interrupted when he lifted his head to greet Yunho.

"There ye be. Sit down an' grab yerself some grog. There be plenty." He nodded his chin towards the chest at the bottom of his bed. Yunho took a seat and stretched out his legs as he grabbed a dusty bottle to take a swing.

"Why did ye call fer me, cap?"

Hongjoong leant his head back so that he could stare at Yunho from lidded eyes. Despite his relaxed posture, his stare was as sharp as that of a hawk. He was waiting, watching.

"We be approachin' land. Yeosang told me to tell ye before we arrived so that ye could mull it o'er."

Yunho curiously tilted his head after he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. The lantern at the ceiling swayed with the ocean and accompanied the rushing outside with a creaking noise.

"What be there to mull o'er?"

The week here had been filled with absorbing conversations with Mingi and other crew members. They were still a fairly young group, and all of them had stories to share that had many more facets than the usual search for work and money that brought sailors to the sea. Yunho had even met a prince, a feisty young man who swore up and down that he hated the captain but shared his bed anyway.

This crew was such a unique bunch that they attracted Yunho greatly, so he had let his curiosity roam free. Within a few days, he had learnt a lot and even received some comforting words about losing his own crew. Now that it was time to leave, Yunho felt relieved and disappointed. He would have liked to spend some more talks with Mingi.

"I been watchin' ye. Ye seem to be interested a great deal in me hearties." From narrow eyes, Hongjoong stared at him. Yunho worriedly clutched his bottle tighter. Had the captain changed his mind? Did he see too much of a threat in Yunho to spare his life?

"I be. I 'ad more fun with yer crew than I be supposed to after the recent incident. I must say ye picked yer mates well."

Hongjoong crossed his arms, trying to fend off the flattery. The movement pulled down the V of his partly unbuttoned shirt, showing off more of his full chest. Yunho pretended not to stare. It was a very ample and thick chest, nearly as beautiful as that of a woman. But while Yunho would have loved to get a feel for it, he would rather like to keep his hands.

"I did. Mingi brought ye up in a lot o' our talks. He seems fond o' ye."

Yunho gulped down another round of rum. It burned hotly down his throat and left a trace of liquid fire in his veins. When the ship began to rock harder, Yunho shifted his legs further apart for stability.

"I been meanin' to ask ye whether ye'd consider stayin'. I require a cook still, an' I consider yer morals as respectable."

That took Yunho by surprise. Joining this crew was a possibility that had crossed his mind before, but he had pushed it off. Hongjoong seemed to know exactly what kind of people he wanted to have with him, and Yunho did not count himself as one of them. The sudden proposal had him reeling for a moment.

"Oh- That be an honour."

Hongjoong brought his legs down from the table with swift momentum and quickly came to his feet. He did not wobble even once despite his slightly tipsy state and the heels that adorned his legs. As he stepped up in front of Yunho, the other man could not help but gulp when the pirate fearlessly halted in between Yunho's legs. His trust was intense, or he knew himself well enough to believe that Yunho would not be so foolish as to attack him.

"Then what do ye say, Yunho? Will ye join us?"

He offered his hand out to the pirate.

Yunho should have hesitated, should have thought about it some more and first finished mourning his crew. However, all concept of revenge and misery was pushed from his mind as he stared up at the powerful pirate.

Then, he gave him his hand.

"Aye, I want to."

The decision needed no challenging it. Yunho's conscious was clear as he shook hands with his new captain.

"Jolly, welcome aboard the _Precious_. I will ask Yeosang to write up a contract fer ye. Come by to sign it tomorrow." Hongjoong's grin was that of a satisfied cat as he stepped back from Yunho and returned to his documents.

"Ye may leave, then. We will prepare a welcomin' feast fer ye after we went ashore. ‘ave a jolly night."

Yunho nearly bounced from his seat and out of the door. His body was thrumming with energy, and again, his mind was too full with thoughts to carry him anywhere helpful. The only goal in his mind was to run to tell Mingi about it. They had become mates, and Yunho would sail along with the mightiest man on the ocean at the moment.

He wanted to jubilate, but he held himself back as he turned to look up at the helm. The navigator (and angry prince) stood behind the wheel with Youjin by his side. The man with the piercing in his lower lip was a fun fellow who always had a jest to share. He had welcomed Yunho more open than the rest of the paranoid pirates. He was busy with the prince a lot and showing him around the ship most of the time, so it was not a surprise to see the two of them together.

"Have ye mates spied Mingi?" Yunho called up to them instead of scaling the steps to be faster. The two pointed him towards the bow of the ship, so he ran off with a big smile on his lips.

He found Mingi near the cannons where he was chatting up the man with the haunted eyes and haggard face, San, Yunho believed. The sight of little excited him had Mingi's eyes lit up, and San shuffle a bit out of the way since he did not want to intrude.

To keep him close, Yunho threw an arm around the smaller man's shoulder first, and with a surprised squeak, San landed in Yunho's chest. It took him only a second to accept his fate and snuggle up against him. With him pressed close, Yunho directed his grin at Mingi.

"Captain just called me to 'im! 'e offered me to go on account with ye mates!"

Mingi's face morphed into a big smile. He excitedly nodded.

"And? Did ye agree?!"

Yunho considered lying for just a second. But at Mingi's childish glee, he could not keep the truth from him.

"O' course, I did! 'ow could I decline an offer as grand as that one?!"

Mingi hooted and patted Yunho's shoulder in congratulations. San also murmured a muffled declaration of happiness into the fabric of Yunho's shirt.

"That means we can go on adventures together now! I be sure we 'ave many fun nights ahead o' us!"

Mingi's excitement was incredibly pure. Yunho did not know all of his stories yet, but he knew that he came from a dark place. Mingi's smile did not appear out of anywhere, he had worked hard to be able to smile so brightly. Yunho could not deny how attractive the man was to him. If Mingi said they would have a fun time together, then they would.

"We ought to tell everybody! Then we can prepare already!" Mingi hurried to the left, then back to the right when he changed his opinion.

"San, I will tell Wooyoung, do ye want to tell them lads?"

San nodded with big eyes and stepped away from Yunho slowly. An adorable blush dusted his cheeks when he fully detached their bodies, and Yunho chuckled at him.

Mingi ran off completely to relay the happy news to anybody who wanted to hear them and also to the rest. Yunho followed him with a smile curling around his lips. He had never been that much of a topic to be happy about on his own ship. There, he had been pushed and ordered around for being too slow or not working at any time of the day.

It seemed as if he had found a crew that was willing to make a ruckus for him and enjoy his presence as an important link instead of just another exchangeable crew member.

Yunho decided that he liked that place. He would protect it well and make sure that they did not run in any more foolish crews that thought they could defy the pirate king.


End file.
